Opta's Team Of The Season Had A Very Leftfield Centre Back Duo

As we try to squeeze the last drop of analysis out of an exhausting 2017/18 Premier League season, statistics company Opta has come out with their team of the season.

The data gathering service has many of the big names in their first eleven with Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne and David De Gea all making the cut.

There have been some surprising inclusions however, with the centre back pairing of Jamie Lascelles and Antonio Rudiger particularly puzzling. Granted there hasn't been many outstanding defenders on display this season and according to the number crunchers Lascelles and Rudiger are the most worthy of a place on the team.

Newcastle captain Lascelles finished 10th in the league and was part of a defence that conceded 47 goals, while Rudiger, in his debut season in English football finished fifth having conceded 38.

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Liverpool left back Andrew Robertson and Chelsea's Cesar Azpiliceuta make up the rest of the back four, with Fernandinho, David Silva and Tottenham's Christian Eriksen completing the line-up.

Opta created their team of the season by using more than 300 different metrics in a variety of categories. Each metric is awarded a positive or negative and the final total reflects how a player has performed over the course of the year. An example of a negative would be an error leading to a goal or a shot off target for a forward.